Author: Zazu

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Get-together

Pairings: 1+2+1

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity, and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events are purely a coincidence.

Notes: Not beta-read.

Melodic Memories Part 1

Duo knew the customer that walked in; he shared a geography elective with the guy. It was impossible not to recognize the intense blue eyes and the mess of dark hair that belonged to Heero Yuy, a quiet student who took notes diligently and was probably an all-around top student.

Duo personally disliked geography; if it weren't for the need to fill in his elective he wouldn't even be in that class. Seeing Heero Yuy in there, and having the guy sit next to him or in front of him, made up for it.

Heero seemed to recognize him too, and nodded slightly in acknowledgement, so Duo stepped forward, eager for a chance to speak to his classmate.

"Hey, you're Heero from my geography class, right? Are you looking for something?"

"Heero Yuy," Heero said, offering his hand as he glanced at the nametag pinned to Duo's uniform shirt. "Nice to meet you, Duo..."

"Duo Maxwell. And I've got a staff discount you can use," Duo said in a low voice, grinning. "What sort of music do you like?"

"I was looking for something classical," Heero said. "And will you get in trouble with the staff discount?"

"No, it's not like I ever use up my entire quota," Duo shrugged. "Classical music isn't really my forte but..." He gestured down the shelves. "My coworker was very happy that Maksim has a new CD."

"Maksim?"

Duo nodded. "That guy who plays the piano, but has a bunch of crazy remixed versions of classical music." He walked down the shelf, glancing back to check whether Heero was following. Pulling the sample disc from the shelf, he loaded it into the public disc player and offered the headphones to Heero. "Try him out. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you, Duo." He took the headphones and slipped them on. Duo walked to the next shelf and pretended to face up the display, but he was discreetly watching Heero's reaction to the music.

Okay, he was actually checking out the guy but Heero looked really good with the large headphones, however battered they were, and his leather jacket. The music must have interested him, because Heero took the time to listen to a bit of every track and also studied the other CDs by the same artist.

A customer asked for his help then and Duo was forced to grin and follow her, and when he turned around, Heero was gone from the store.

He saw Heero in the lecture hall three days later and couldn't help asking him whether he'd enjoyed the music.

"I bought the CD," Heero said. "But you were busy and I was in a hurry so I didn't hang around. Sorry about that."

"Don't be," Duo said. "If you liked Maksim though, how do you feel about a few chicks on electrical strings?"

Heero raised an eyebrow. "You're expanding my musical horizons," he said. "My wallet dislikes you."

Duo laughed. "You can try it off of me." He dug his player out of his pocket and pulled the headphones from around his neck. And as Heero listened, Duo could only think of how good Heero looked with his headphones on.

He suddenly envisioned Heero beneath him in bed, headphones still on, listening to music while they had sex. And all the while, Duo would hear his moans, a completely different kind of music.

Of course, that depended on whether Heero was vocal in bed or not, but Duo realized he shouldn't be thinking these thoughts in the first place. He slid his binder over his crotch to hide his arousal.

It must have been a stroke of luck that the professor was late for class. Duo glanced over at his music player which Heero held, and was surprised to see him checking out the rest of his playlist. Heero noticed him and slipped one side of the headphones off. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to pry."

"It's not a problem," Duo shrugged.

"You've got a wide range of music in here."

"Story of my life, man," Duo slid lower in his chair, trying to get more comfortable. "It's the reason I work in the music store, you know?"

"Makes sense," Heero nodded, slipping the headphone back on as he listened to another track. Duo noticed Heero's fingers twitch in time to what he assumed was the music beat. A guy who listened to classical music...could it be that Heero played music?

One of the TAs suddenly entered the room; Duo nudged Heero, who slipped the headphones off to listen to the announcement.

"Hey guys," the TA said. "The Professor needs to cancel class today. He had to rush to the hospital because his wife went into early labour. Classes will resume next week, and tutorials are also cancelled for this week."

Duo took in a deep breath and let it out. "Well, this was my last class for the day. How about you?"

"It's my only class of the day."

"I hope you don't live far, or else that would suck."

Heero nodded. "I'm about a twenty minute bus ride from here."

"Hey, want to grab a coffee? You can check out the rest of my music selection. I live about ten minutes from the music store and there's a coffee shop there we can chill at."

Heero nodded. "Sounds good."

Over coffee and a sandwich, Duo learned that Heero was a nanotech engineer major who was also taking the geography course as his elective. He lived alone since his father worked in a different state, and he enjoyed music as a hobby. That was the extent of Duo's findings; Heero was otherwise preoccupied with Duo's music.

That didn't bother Duo though; he was just as preoccupied studying Heero via discreet glances. The other young man closed his eyes when he listened to music, his eyebrows furrowing briefly if he didn't like the track. He stared out the window at nothing in particular as he listened, until Duo glanced at his watch and waved to catch Heero's attention.

"Sorry man, my shift starts in about twenty minutes so I have to run."

Heero glanced at the clock above the coffee counter and his expression became one of surprise when he realized how much time had passed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was this late. You must have been so bored."

Duo grinned. "Nah, it was fine. Relaxing, actually."

Heero handed the headphones and music player back to Duo. "Still. I was pretty poor company."

"You can make it up to me with dinner," Duo said. He immediately flushed and backpedalled. "Um, I mean, I was just joking. I didn't mean to be so rude."

"Not at all." Heero smiled. "Dinner sounds good. Any preferences?"

"I'm not a picky eater," Duo said.

"I've got some readings to do tonight, so it's not a good night," Heero confessed. "Thursday is my busiest day in terms of the number of classes. How does Friday evening sound?"

"I don't have classes on Friday so I usually work the morning shift. I'll be done at about five or so."

"Would six be all right?"

"Sure, where at?" Duo asked, handing Heero his cell phone. Heero automatically entered his phone number into it and dialled the number so he would receive Duo's number on his own phone.

"Let's meet here and then decide," Heero said, handing the cell phone back to Duo.

"Sounds good. See you then."

"See you."

*****

Duo couldn't stop thinking of Heero. It was strange; he'd only just met the guy and in complete honesty, they were barely more than acquaintances. He looked forward to changing that over dinner on Friday night. In the mean time, all he could think of was Heero's exposed neck as he tilted his head back while listening to music. He wanted to stroke a finger down that throat.

He shook himself from his thoughts. Just because he happened to like guys didn't mean that Heero did, too. For all he knew, Heero could have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend! Until he knew more about his new friend, Duo couldn't allow himself to daydream about the messy hair and blue eyes.

Friday seemed to take forever to come, and yet it seemed like time flew by. It had been busy at the store and Duo had left work fifteen minutes later than he had expected. He rushed home for a quick shower, dressed, undressed, and dressed again before running to the coffee shop.

Heero was already there; Duo was five minutes late.

"Sorry," Duo said. "Had to work overtime."

"That's fine. Where do you want to eat?"

Duo shrugged. "Your choice."

"Does Chinese sound good? There's a good place just down the street."

"I know the one. I love that place."

They walked in comfortable silence towards the restaurant, but Duo wanted conversation. He wanted to learn more about Heero. "So, Heero..."

Heero's cell phone rang. "Sorry," he said to Duo before picking it up. "Hello? Relena. Thanksgiving? No, I don't think I'll be coming home. There's a lot of school work around that time. No. Okay, fine. I'll give it some thought. Okay. Bye."

Duo grinned half-heartedly. "Girlfriend wants you home for Thanksgiving?"

"Not my girlfriend, no. But a friend of mine, from high school. She has some reunion of sorts planned, I guess. She just likes to host parties."

"Ah."

The silence somehow seemed awkward, but by then they had reached the restaurant. By the time they had ordered, Duo and Heero were staring at one another, unsure of what to say.

"So," Duo forged on, desperate to bring back the comfortable atmosphere they'd shared earlier. "Do you play music?"

Heero looked surprised. "I used to. Not much opportunity now, I guess."

"Why not?"

"School is too busy. Besides, I left my instrument at home."

"What would that be?"

"The piano."

"Oh." Duo forced a grin; the expression surprised Heero. "Not exactly the most portable instrument, I guess."

"How about you?" Heero asked. "You like music well enough. Do you play anything?"

"Guitar and drums."

"Acoustic or electric?"

"Mostly acoustic. The flat doesn't allow much electric."

"Do you live alone?"

Duo nodded. "My parents passed away long ago," he explained. "The insurance money from their accident, along with their savings, left me able to care for myself, at least until I can find a decent job and support myself. A friend of my father's was kind enough to rent me the apartment I live in for a lower than market price, so here I am."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. It happened almost five years ago. I lived with my mother's aunt through high school, but I moved out for college since she lives in another city and I wanted to come to this college. I mean, I had limited options, since out-of-state students had a higher tuition."

Heero nodded. "I see."

"How about you? Did you choose this place or?"

"Yes, I did. Partially to get away from home, I guess, and they do have a good program here."

"What ethnicity are you?" Duo asked curiously. "You look Asian, but you have blue eyes."

"My father is Japanese. My mother was European."

Duo noted the past tense and decided to change the topic as their food arrived. "Any siblings? I'd bet if you had a sister she'd be pretty hot," he said thoughtfully.

"I'm an only child. Why, would you like to date my mixed sister, if she existed?" Heero's lips twitched in an amused manner.

Duo could have smacked himself for saying something so stupid. "I don't date females," he muttered. Then he froze, his chopsticks poised over the dish of chicken, his cheeks hot. He stared at his bowl of rice, then swallowed hard, forcing a grin on his face. "Sorry man," he said. "Didn't mean to freak you out. I was a bit too forward again, wasn't I? Don't worry, I won't come on to you or anything, I mean, not that you're not good looking or anything but..." he trailed off. "Shit, this is so not what I want to be saying."

To his surprise, he felt a nudge against his shoe. "What if...I want you to consider coming on to me?"

Duo's face flamed even more, mostly because his mind had gone straight to the gutter with those words. "I...I..." he stuttered.

"Sorry. Was that too forward of me?"

"No!" Duo looked up and saw Heero's serious expression. "I...I just didn't mean for this conversation to take place at this time or place."

Heero nodded. "Well, since it has, I'm not going to lie. You're an attractive man and I'd like to get to know you better, if you'd give me the chance."

Duo studied Heero, trying to make sure that he was sincere. A moment later, he smiled, then noted the relief on Heero's face. "I think I'd like that, too."

Conversation became much easier from that point on. Before they knew it, the food was gone from the table, fortune cookies eaten and the bill paid for.

"Want to stop by my place?" Duo asked. "That CD you mentioned, I have it and you can borrow it if you like."

"Sure."

They grabbed coffee from the shop because Duo admitted that he had run out of instant coffee, and they soon arrived at Duo's apartment.

"Nice place," Heero commented, looking around the living room, taking in the battered couch and expensive sound system.

"I saved up for a long time to get that," Duo said, gesturing to the music player. There were three tall racks of CDs off to the side and Duo waved at them. "Feel free to borrow what you want. The other disc is in my room. I'll go get it."

"Thanks." Heero studied the CD racks, noting that they were organized by genre, but assorted within each genre. "What's your organization system like?"

"Favourites per genre at the top," Duo called as he returned to the living room. He set the CD on the coffee table, then stretched out on the couch. "Throw in whatever you want, if you want to listen to something."

Heero perused the music; Duo's collection was quite extensive. He put a CD in just as Duo's cell phone rang, so he turned down the volume.

"Hey man," Duo said. "You need me to pick up another shift? I can't next Monday, I've a test on Tuesday. Sorry. Yeah, why don't you call Dylan? He said he wanted extra hours."

"Washroom," Heero murmured, and Duo waved him down the hall.

"I can't come out tonight; I've got a friend over. No way, that DJ sucks..."

Heero checked the first door and found a piano in the otherwise empty room. He tried another door and found the bathroom, but returned to the piano room, curious as to why Duo hadn't mentioned that he played the piano.

He lifted the cloth covering the upright and touched the piano cover. It had been a long while since he'd played. He slowly lifted the cover, then touched the keys, imagining what Duo looked like when he played the piano.

Sitting down, he was about to play when Duo suddenly entered the room. His expression was unlike anything Heero had seen; he quickly pulled his hands away from the piano.

"Sorry, was I intruding?" he asked cautiously.

Duo stared at the piano keys, then slowly lifted his eyes to Heero. "No," he finally said. "I just...I don't come in here too often, that's all."

"You didn't say you played piano."

"I don't. At least, not very much of it."

"But?" Heero asked. Duo stepped into the room, then sat down on the bench beside Heero although he faced away from the piano. Heero hadn't turned the lights on, but the moonlight from the window along with the stroke of light from the hallway was enough for them to see by.

"This was my mother's piano. She and my father...they both played. This was her most prized possession, I guess."

Heero waited, but Duo didn't say any more. "Sorry, Duo, I shouldn't have taken the liberty to come in here." He suddenly recalled Duo's forced grin when Heero had mentioned that he played the piano.

"No, it's fine." Duo grabbed Heero's hand, pulling him down onto the piano bench once more. "I just...I had a gig that I wanted them to see. It was out of town, so I went early to set up and...they never made it."

Heero suddenly understood. Duo felt as if his parents' deaths were his fault. He opened his mouth, trying to say something comforting, but Duo beat him to it.

"You know...I haven't heard anything from this piano in a very long time, other than getting it tuned, I mean. Do you think you could..."

Heero nodded, placing his hands on the foreign, yet familiar keys. They were cool under his hand; he closed his eyes. He played a waltz; it was the first thing that had come to his mind.

Halfway through, Duo turned in the seat so he was facing the piano, too. At an octave lower, he played the bass note for the beginning of each bar. The low notes hovered in an almost melancholic manner and Duo stopped as Heero neared the end of the piece.

"That was my mother's favourite waltz," he murmured as the music died away. Looking up, he smiled. "I haven't heard that in a long time. Thanks, Heero."

Despite those words, Heero could only hear the underlying sadness in Duo's tone. Suddenly, he wanted desperately to make the sadness go away. So he did the first thing he could think of.

Taking Duo by the collar of his shirt, he pulled the other man close and pressed their lips together.

It took a moment for Duo to respond, and it was hesitant before he gained courage. Heero pulled away, not wanting to overdo it, and wondered if he should apologize as he studied Duo's face, eyes still closed.

But Duo smiled. "Who would have thought," he murmured. "That the first kiss that touches me deep inside would happen on this piano bench, just like my father's and mother's first kiss?"

"Did it really?" Heero asked softly. "Touch you deep inside?"

Duo opened his eyes. "Did you feel otherwise?"

Heero responded by kissing Duo once more, for a much longer time.

TBC...

 

To The Next Chapter

Back to Zazu's Fanfictions Page

Back to Guests Fanfictions Page

Back to Main Page